Greek minority members who hold Turkish citizenship are complaining about characters on Turkish TV shows, convinced that an atmosphere similar to that of the 1950s and the 1960s, which was created by the media to vilify the Greek community for political reasons, is being repeated.

Association for the Support of Greek Foundations President Laki Vingas and Secretary-General Katerina Proku Türker filed a complained with the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), which audits TV broadcasts, regarding the negative portrayal of Greeks on TV shows. In their written statement, Vingas and Türker gave the TV show “Ustura Kemal” as the latest example of such a trend. According to the complaint, “Certain characters displayed on the show lead to discomfort in members of the Greek community who live in Turkey as citizens of this country. All negative characters such as prostitutes, traitors and collaborators are portrayed as Greeks.”

The complaint further said that sociologists and anthropologists have agreed that throughout history flaws such as prostitution, theft and homicide could exist in any society because human beings are prone to mistakes as it urged people not to attribute those to any ethnicity or society.

Drawing attention to the fact that tens of thousands of Greek people had to leave Turkey in the past due to negative profiling in newspapers and the film industry (Yeşilçam), Vingas said that current popular TV shows aired in prime time are equally disturbing for Greek citizens.

Vingas also said, “Nobody has the right to insult the Greek community like this -- people who serve Turkey as law-abiding citizens of this country as doctors, academics, architects, engineers, lawyers, artists and businessmen.” He also expressed discomfort at the possible biases of “Greece's next-door neighbors and their negative perceptions."

On behalf of the Greek community, Vingas urged RTÜK to warn the channel that airs the TV show that leads to discomfort and asked for more sensitivity towards minorities in future projects.

RTÜK reportedly shared the complaint with the TV channel that airs the show.